The present invention relates generally to toy wheeled vehicles and, more particularly, to remotely controlled toy vehicles having unusual play characteristics.
Remotely controlled toy vehicles are well known. One class of known toy vehicle is designed to be able to easily roll over and to be operated on either major side of the vehicle. U.S. Pat. No. 5,429,543, for example, discloses a remotely controlled toy vehicle with six wheels, three wheels on each side. The vehicle is statically balanced such that the vehicle is normally supported by the center pair of wheels and rear pair of wheels. The vehicle is dynamically balanced such that when the wheels of the center pair are driven in opposite directions, the vehicle pitches forward and is supported only by the center pair of wheels. Further, U.S. Pat. No. 5,727,985 discloses a remotely controlled toy vehicle having a chassis with two “front” and two “rear” wheels with balloon tires. The wheels are sufficiently large so as to define an outer perimeter of the vehicle. The location of the chassis is entirely within the perimeter. No portion of the vehicle extends beyond the tires. The resiliency of the tires allows the vehicle to perform a variety of tumbling and deflecting maneuvers. International Patent Publication No. WO00/07681 and related U.S. Pat. No. 6,589,098 disclose a similar vehicle in which a central chassis portion mounts one or a pair of wheel supporting beams, which are pivotally coupled to lateral sides of the central chassis portion so as to rotate in planes perpendicular to a major plane of the vehicle. The design assists the vehicle in being able to climb up and over obstacles that it encounters.
Despite these different variations, toy manufacturers continue to seek other remotely controlled toy vehicle designs offering different functional capabilities and new play patterns.